The Last Tango in Mendoza: Wine Tour Comes to an End

Day Five (February12, 2009 ) & Day Six ( February 13, 2009)

In a country known for its tempestuous tango and its opulent Malbec, is it really any surprise that by the end of our Mendoza wine tour, the visits and outings grew increasingly extravagant and , dare I say, sensuous?

My final two days in Mendoza started earnestly enough with Argentina’s Father of Modern Viticulture Pedro Marchevsky and his wife, who is one of the preeminent Argentine winemakers, Susana Balbo. (See previous Vintelligence for more info on Susana’s winemaking.) Currently, president of Wines of Argentina, Susana is known worldwide for her expertise. Pedro holds a distinguished faculty position at Mendoza’s Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, so his credentials are equally impressive, and having the chance to learn from them both, tour their Dominio Del Plata vineyards and winery, and taste their wine was really a treat for all the senses.

A little bit of Argentine wine history

Some key information I learned from Pedro and Susana was that in 1800, Mendoza was an isolated place; a world away from Buenos Aires and with virtually no contact. The railroad was built in 1864, and the wine industry started to grow due to massive vineyard plantings and immigration. During that time, pre-phylloxera red grapes arrived in Argentina Cabernet, Petite Verdot, Merlot and Malbec. The soils were shallow with clay, and the shoots were trained vertically, which is important for Malbec. They called Malbec, Francesa, because it was brought from France. The government subsidized the planting of vineyards, and one could plant them instead of paying taxes. Unfortunately, this plan worked too well, and production increased more than consumption with 800,000 acres planted. At the time, wines were bottled right after crushing with no barrel aging, so they were too acidic and oxidized for anyone  no one even considered exporting the stuff. The price of wine fell from $1/liter to 1 cent/liter!

Then in 1980, Argentina suffered “The Crisis”, and removed 35 percent of its vines. Only 9,000 acres remained. Additionally, it modernized its irrigation in its mostly desert-like terrain. Today, however, Argentina has 490,000 acres of vineyards with 350,000 planted in Mendoza. That is 70 percent of Argentina’s total plantings. From those vines, Argentine winemakers produce 440 million gallons of wine, and they export 8.2 million cases. Most importantly, wine lovers everywhere view Argentina as one of the up-and-coming wine regions of the world.

And to showcase their wine, how did Pedro and Susana maximize the tasting? By providing us with tango lessons followed by a class in wine blending, of course! Let me say from the start that I have a far better chance of succeeding as a wine blender than as a tango dancer. Maybe it was because I had left my dancing shoes at home, but the tango proved to be a challenging undertaking, despite the excellent instruction and phenomenal wine to provide extra courage.

Equally fun and challenging to the senses was our wine-blending class where we were presented with a Cabernet, a Bonarda, a Malbec and a Syrah to blend into the best red possible. We worked in groups, and I am proud to announce that in a blind tasting, my groups concoction of 80 percent Syrah, 15 percent Malbec, and 5 percent Bonarda was the overwhelming winner. Ah, but what we did hurriedly in about 45 minutes is a far more intense process in the real world where blending takes days to perfect, we learned.

From this exercise, we moved on to yet another phenomenal meal that added goat to its repertoire of succulent grilled meats and drank spectacular Susana Balbo Malbec and her Crios Cabernet and Bonarda/Syrah mix. But the evening wasn’t over.

It was off to our country estate accommodations at La Vendimia where its magical presence seemed more akin to a movie set than lodging for a few wine folks like us. With panoramic views, its own polo field, posh pool, bocce court and stables, we quickly made ourselves at home, enjoying wine and beer outside on the terrace on the temperate summer night. Our young host, Beto, had also felt that movie-set magic of the estate and was keen on making the next best Western, starring himself as the South American gunslinger who would face off against none other than el Tigre from Hinsdale. Before now, you probably hadn’t thought of me as the next John Wayne, eh?

The last ride into the sunset

In our opulent surroundings, our next day was the last, and we were doing our very best to make the most of every second of it some never going to bed that night, in fact. With a hearty breakfast of empanadas, we began a day of enjoying the surroundings poolside, taking our last horseback or horse-drawn carriage ride, and relishing a truly Bacchanalian feast with dancing that lasted until morning.

While the whole day was a wonderful, relaxing experience, it was probably the ride into the middle of the vineyards that proved most memorable. Greeted with crepe-like Argentine pancakes, we drank the afternoon beverage of true gauchos: strong, energizing Mate tea sipped through a special sieve-like metal straw out of a Calabash gourd. It was a fitting time to reflect on the tour’s many wonderful moments before we headed back to a night full of more food, more wine, endless dancing and an even greater appreciation for all-things Argentine.

- Sean Chaudhry